Every once in a while I like to throw something a little different at the kiddos when it comes to food. They’re really not picky eaters, but like all of us, they prefer sticking to the “comfort” food they know. Sometimes I go for recipes I enjoyed as a kid – the zucchini muffins started out that way and now the kiddos can’t remember a time without them – and other times it will be something no one in the house has tried before – for instance there was the time we watched the movie Ratatouille and Sissy asked me what ratatouille was. We all found out the next day – much to the kiddos disappointment. I guess cooked vegetables lose they’re magic transitioning from the big screen to the dinner table. Though, I now have a new late summer favorite side dish to go with a grilled steak.

This weekend time around, it started with me looking for a way to use up a bunch of potatoes quickly. It’s been nearly five months since we dug most of the potatoes out of the garden and some weren’t keeping like I had hoped. That’s when I ran across a few recipes for gnocchi – a dumpling made from potato and flour. This immediately got the kiddos attention – they were thinking of Gnocchi, the cat from one of Lulu’s favorite shows, Curious George. After explaining the difference – “no, we’re not having cat for lunch.” I settled on this recipe and got to work.

The recipe was rather simple, though 3 pounds of potatoes makes a lot of gnocchi. They ate it without complaint, bit the kiddos weren’t impressed with the tomato sauce/dumpling combination. I had to agree. If I were to do it again, I’d made a butter sauce for with it instead. And I will need to make it again. If I stumbled upon a second potato dish that Potato Boy doesn’t like, we may need to consider changing his name.